Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-07-14
THAT GRAPEVINE ROAD.
What the Merchants and citizens of Grape
vine Think About 1t,

vine Think About 1t,
GRAPEVINE, TEX, July 10, IssI
To the Editor OF the Gazette:
This mornings GAZETTE was handed
me by one of cur merchants with the re-
quest that l reed your article on County
Roads, " and answer it. l find it refers
only to the contemplated straight road
from Fort Worth to Grapevine, as located
by the surveyors, and that il is more in
the form of al "interVieW' than an edi-
torial. We are glad Of this, because we
had learned TO look upon THE GAZETTE as
fax organ, and inclined to be truthful.
To say taGt the representations n that
article are fsIse in the main and in detail
is tTU.G that the interviewed, inter.
viewer, and al others who mgy have
been Instrumental in getting It up can
not successfully contradict. 1t is false
hood upon the merchants Of this town
and the farmers CT this section.
Ia the frs place, the objection 10 the
road Is and has been almost entirely by
the farmers, end principally by the land
owners. It was far mer and landowner
(Uncle Billy JOhnsCn) who brought the
first protest patiti0u 10 town and got our
merchants and others to sign il. He, as
well as others along the line, represented
10 as that it would work great injury TO
them; that they did not want il, and
asked Us Gs neighoors and friends to help
them out. We venture that no citizen Of
the Gown Of Grapevine, merchant OF
other, hed anything TO dc with tlc pro
test matter except 81 the request Of those
good old farmers, who were their friends
and waOm they felt it both plessureand
e duty 10 assist in anything they might
ask, the same being reasonable. The
farmers said they dig not need it; did
not want it; /. would be a. injury
and called on US 10 help keep the thing
from being forced upon them Now this
is me true gjst II the matter, no more
nJ- less, so fer as our merchants were
concerHsG, and we can assure you that
they can't be bulIdCZed into gCjEg back
on their Old true and tried neigh9Crs and
friends by any such utterarce5 as found
place ia the article referred 10. This was
The case with both petitions, for there
we're two, and Uncle Billy Johnson Cer-
Tied Ooth Of them around, md ne lives
over three miles from Grapevine, On the
Fort Worth road, When ne approached
rs to sign the same petition, We asked
him what had become of the other petit
tiCH, and he said il had been ''g0t 81
with" but If We would help him out il
this one he would see that It didn't get
"sWGmped;" tina. he would take II to the
Commissioners court himself, and then
he would know that they got it; and We
guess he Gid, from the article in this
mornings Gazette,
Referring to the charge that our mer.
~ - v.-i@b T,al =
chants Of Dallas to defeat the matter, we
must say that this is, if il were possible
to be so, more false than the other. Our
merchants and our people are friendly
70 Dallas, and to Fort Worth-jO snd
haye looked upon both as friendly 10
them, and We believe they are. They
want and appreciate the benefits OF the
commercial friendship Of the merchants
Of Dallas; they want and appreciate the
benefits CT q commercial friendship with
the merchants of Fort Worth, nor dc
they feel disposed 20 cut one u the eX-
pensa Of the other. It vii! only be 3
short time until Fort Worth viii only oe 81
hours ride from Grapevine, over the
st, Louis, Arkansas and Texas railroad
when the long existing friendship between
the two towns viii be tled and bound
with iron and rivited, when surely DC
doubt Of the fidelity Of either toward The
other can spring up. And did you ever
think about how little need we'd have
for that straight county road then?
Referring to the cost Of right-of-W&y
from Fort Worth TO Dcrtou creek, we
nave to say that S25, 600 would DC moi
100 high sn estimate to put upon the
SRlGtter. You must remember that il this
FConneCLiOn, while the dirt road might not
require quite so much land as railroad
on these stock gaps cannot be laid as
upon railroad beds, thus GeCessitating
the building of q fence on each side OIL
the T0sd through every field, patch, or
card OF pasture which it may traverse,
! snd who that knows anything about thy
country through which It would pass
does not know, without argument, that i
would require about fJrty-lye miles OF
fencing, in addition to cost Of land. -Four
thousand dollars would not more thar
buy the material and put up the neCes-
ssry fencing.
This, we believe, is about OIL worthy Of
notice in the interview. Respectfully,
WILL B. DAVIS